NATO head urges ‘robust’ security guarantees – DW – 08/23/2025

Following the meeting this week between Donald Trump and European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there has been much talk of what security measures could be offered to Kyiv to underpin any potential peace deal with Russia.

But what could a European troop deployment look like, and what could it mean for Ukraine and Europe? DW’s Brussels correspondent Anchal Vohra explains.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said there is “light at the end of the tunnel” after his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska last week.

“With the arrival of President Trump, I think that a light at the end of the tunnel has finally loomed. And now we had a very good, meaningful and frank meeting in Alaska,” he said.

“The next steps now depend on the leadership of the United States, but I am confident that the leadership qualities of the current president, President Trump, are a good guarantee that relations will be restored.”

But Putin also said the future of relations would also depend on other Western nations and the NATO alliance.

The Alaska meeting was the first time Putin had visited the US since 2015.

Moscow’s ties with the West have been severely strained since 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula and began backing separatists in eastern Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that in two weeks, he should know whether progress is possible in his bid to end the war in Ukraine, and he again threatened to impose sanctions on Moscow.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he’s “not happy” with Russia’s latest attacks in Ukraine.

After meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with European leaders in Washington, Trump has sought to arrange a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy.

However, the push for an imminent summit appears to be stalling. 

“There’s a tremendous amount of hatred there,” said Trump. “But we’ll see what happens. I think in two weeks, we’ll know which way I’m going.”

The US president also said he would decide then whether to impose “massive sanctions” or do nothing and say “it’s your fight.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called for “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv.

He said these were needed to ensure that Russia “will never, ever again attempt to take one square kilometer of Ukraine.”

“Robust security guarantees will be essential and this is what we are now working to define,” Rutte said at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Rutte also said that although it was “too early to exactly say what will be the outcome,” the US would “clearly” be involved in such an agreement.

Zelenskyy said security guarantees would “consist of what partners can give Ukraine, as well as what the army in Ukraine should be like” once the war ends.

“And it is too early to say who can provide military personnel, who can provide intelligence, who has a presence at sea or in the air, and who is ready to provide funding,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will only meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when there is an appropriate “agenda” for the talks, Russia’s foreign minister said.

In an interview with US broadcaster NBC, Sergey Lavrov said no meeting was planned for now.

“Putin is ready to meet with Zelenskyy when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Zelenskyy reiterated his open request to meet with Putin.

“The Russians are doing everything they can to prevent the meeting from taking place,” Zelenskyy said on Friday.

“Unlike Russia, Ukraine is not afraid of any meeting with leaders.”

The European Union disbursed €4 billion ($4.7 billion) in aid to Ukraine on Friday.

It said the transfer of the funds was made possible after Ukraine withdrew a law that would have restricted the independence of its anti-corruption authorities. The EU officials added that corruption reforms and rule of law were crucial for Ukraine’s future path towards EU membership.

“EU solidarity with Ukraine is unwavering,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on social media.

“This is our commitment not only to Ukraine’s recovery, but to its future as a sovereign and democratic country,” she added.

Today we are covering NATO chief Mark Rutte’s visit to Kyiv, where he spoke to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about future security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.

Meanwhile, Russia has cast doubt on the prospects of a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Zelenskyy.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said such a meeting could only take place once both sides had agreed to the agenda.